Bourn originally hoped to land a deal north of the five-year, $75.25 million contract B.J. Upton signed with the Braves, so this looks like a relative bargain in comparison. Still, Scott Boras deserves credit for getting a pretty good deal for his client given the circumstances. While the Mets were reluctant to give up their first-round pick (11th overall) and draft pool money to sign Bourn, Cleveland’s first-round pick is protected. The Indians forfeited their second-round pick to sign Nick Swisher, so Jim Callis of Baseball Americahears that they’ll give up their competitive balance pick (No. 69 overall) to bring Bourn into the fold.

The Indians were mentioned as a possibility for Bourn as recently as last week, so this doesn’t come completely out of nowhere. However, it seemed like a long shot at the time given that Swisher, Michael Brantley and Drew Stubbs were already in-house for the outfield. It’s a pretty good bet that Bourn, Swisher and Brantley will be in the lineup on most days, though Swisher and Mark Reynolds could alternate between first base/DH duties, opening up a spot for the speedy Stubbs in right. The Indians could also explore trades involving Stubbs. All in all, it’s a pretty nice problem to have. I don’t think the Indians have enough pitching to threaten the Tigers in the AL Central, but it looks like Terry Francona’s first year as skipper will be an interesting one.

UPDATE: According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Mets also made a four-year, $48 million offer to Bourn. However, they were informed that it would take an arbitrator two to three weeks to decide whether they would be able to keep their first-round pick. And with spring training approaching, Bourn just wasn’t willing to wait that long, so he took the Indians’ deal.

Former Mets catcher Johnny Monell signed a contract with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization, per a report by Chris Cotillo of SB Nation. The 30-year-old originally struck a deal with the NC Dinos on Thursday, but the deal appeared to fall through at the last minute, according to Cotillo’s unnamed source.

Monell last surfaced for the Mets during their 2015 run, batting a dismal .167/.231/.208 with two extra bases in 52 PA before the club DFA’d him to clear space for Bartolo Colon. While he’s had difficulty sticking at the major league level, he’s found a higher degree of success in the minor league circuit and holds a career .271 average over a decade of minor league play. He played exclusively in Triple-A Las Vegas during the 2016 season, slashing .276/.336/.470 with 19 home runs and a career-high 75 RBI in 461 PA.

The veteran backstop appears to be the second MLB player to join the KT Wiz roster this offseason, as right-hander Donn Roach also signed with the club last month on a one-year, $850,000 deal.

Brewers’ right-hander Phil Bickford received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for a drug of abuse, per the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin. This is the second time Bickford has been suspended for recreational drug use, as he was previously penalized in 2015 after testing positive for marijuana prior to the amateur draft.

Bickford was selected by the Giants in the first round of the 2015 draft and was later dealt to the Brewers for lefty reliever Will Smith at the 2016 trade deadline. He finished his 2016 campaign in High-A Brevard County, pitching to a 3.67 ERA, 10.0 K/9 rate and 5.0 BB/9 over 27 innings.

Two other suspensions were handed down on Friday, one to Toronto minor league right-hander Pedro Loficial for a positive test for metabolites of Stanozolol and one to Miami minor league outfielder Casey Soltis for a second positive test for drugs of abuse. Loficial will serve a 72-game suspension, while Soltis will serve 50 games. All three suspensions are due to start at the beginning of the 2017 season for each respective minor league team.

We are very disappointed to learn of Phil’s suspension, but we fully support the Minor League Baseball Drug Prevention and Testing Program and its enforcement by the Commissioner’s Office. Phil understands he made a mistake, and we fully anticipate that he will learn from this experience.